


Always the Groomsman, Never the Groom

by myrhymesarepurer



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-27
Updated: 2020-01-27
Packaged: 2021-02-27 06:14:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,449
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22432456
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/myrhymesarepurer/pseuds/myrhymesarepurer
Summary: Roy landed on the other side of the Maid of Honor, dethroning Black Hayate from his special Groomsdog stool.He felt a sense of calm wash over him again. Yes, having her closer was much better for his nerves, to be sure.“Nice speech,” he opened quietly.Riza blinked at his appearance. She glanced down at her dog,then to Breda at the center of the room still speaking,then back at the General.“Thank you, sir,” she replied, mildly unsurprised.
Relationships: Riza Hawkeye/Roy Mustang
Comments: 8
Kudos: 116





	Always the Groomsman, Never the Groom

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote something for the first time in like a year. and it only took five hours. that's big for me, so I posted. it's little, but I don't mind it. I finally found a title for it too.

Riza cleared her throat in front of a room of tables, seated with people slightly too tipsy to be acceptable at a wedding. Everyone in attendance, of course, had the decorum and courtesy to pretend like they were perfectly sober - or at least close to it. Everyone did so out of respect for the bride and groom. All except the Mustang Unit positioned behind her with the wedding party, hooting and hollering as she stepped up to the microphone.

I mean.  
The encouraging applause was appreciated,  
but the brief chant  _ \- Hawk-eye, Hawk-eye, Hawk-eye - _ was frankly unnecessary.

She held up a hand.  
They all quieted as best the could, knowing it was an  _ order. _

“As professional and reserved as my many know me to be,”   
Riza said, sighing, “It may come as a surprise that I  _ care _ , very deeply.”

She held her hand up again,  
silencing the collective _ awwwww _ at her back.

“It is my job to care for others, as a soldier, as well as my pleasure as a human.”  
She cocked her head in thought, “Of course, some make it more difficult than others.”

The rowdy response behind her as Havoc reached across Breda to punch the General Mustang’s arm told her that her little joke was well received.   
Roy glared at his men, but lost his focus quickly to Riza in the middle of the room brushing a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

It was so strange how the back of her neck could be  _ pretty _ ?  
It was puzzling, to be sure.  Roy grimaced and threw back his champagne prematurely.

“Rebecca Catalina, our bride here today-,” Riza turned to her friend, already in tears, dabbing at her eyes in an attempt to keep her flawless makeup from smearing.

Riza huffed a laugh and gazed at her fondly.

“She is one of the only people in my life who has insisted on caring  _ for me _ . Outside of combat. No matter how much I resist.” Riza chuckled, “Forcing me to buy groceries, begging me to not work on weekends, and  _ ‘Riza Hawkeye, this is way too much Xingese takeout for one person to consume in a week. I don’t care how busy you are. _ ’”

Light, laughter bubbled through the room,  
quickly ebbing into a sentimental silence.  
  


Riza swallowed tightly.  
  


“Rebecca, I am  _ elated  _ that you now have a most  _ honorable _ someone,” she looked to Jean Havoc, arm slung over his bride’s chair,   
grinning widely as his blue eyes became dangerously misty.

  
  
“-that can forever nag you like you nag me.“ Riza smiled warmly.   
  


The rooms’ laughter melted into applause. Rebecca gathered her dress and ran as best she could to hug her friend at the center of the room.   
Once she relinquished her hold, Riza raised her glass, “To the happy couple.”

“To the happy couple,” repeated the crowd.  
  
“To the happy  _ coupplee _ ,” a tipsy Fuery cheered, a little late to the punch.  
“Hear, hear!’ Breda shouted heartily, downing his whole flute before rising to take her place.

Riza settled back into her seat with a sigh of relief, her throat still tight as she reached for her water.   
Hayate hopped onto his stool, a black satin bowtie around his neck, fully expecting celebratory pets.   
  
  


From three seats away, Roy was eyeing his Captain. He had to admit, he was spoiled with her proximity on a daily basis. As his adjutant and bodyguard, she was nearly always, if not at his left shoulder, then the closest one to him in any and every room. Maybe it was the wine flowing freely and the emotions running high, but it was almost uncomfortable to be separated by not only the bride and the groom, but Breda’s seat as well.

If he was just even _ one _ seat closer, he could at least catch her eye.

So, he tried that.

Roy slipped over onto the empty seat next to him and leaned over the table casually, attempting to enter Riza’s field of vision. Instead, it was Rebecca Catalina who caught his eye and gave him the  _ look _ . That condescending  _ look _ that said, somehow, someway,  _ she knew _ he didn’t just want to congratulate Riza on her speech. The  _ look t _ hat said _ she knew _ he had had trouble listening to the wedding ceremony, the toasts, anything at all really. She knew he just stared at the maid-of-honor like he was missing something.

He stared at her like it had been so long since he had acknowledged his heart- It had been so bloody long that Catalina and Havoc had actually resigned from breaking up every five seconds and finally settled down.

Yeah, It had been  _ way too long _ .

Roy glared back at her then looked away into the crowd.

He tapped his index finger on the table cloth impatiently. The crowd barked with laughter and applauded Breda’s speech onward. It was then Roy felt a surge of just enough courage and spite to move. His legs carried him quietly past Havoc and Catalina, ignoring the bride's all-knowing glare. He landed on the other side of Riza, dethroning Black Hayate from his special Groomsdog stool, lifting the pup up and placing him back on the floor.  
  


Roy sat down, huffing out the energy. He felt a sense of calm wash over him again.   
Yes, having her closer was  _ much _ better for his nerves, to be sure.

“Nice speech,” he opened quietly.

Riza blinked at his appearance. She glanced down at her dog,  
then to Breda at the center of the room  _ still speaking,  
_ then back at the General.

“Thank you, sir,” she replied, mildly unsurprised.

For a moment, she watched him, expecting him to say his piece, explain the reason for his inappropriately timed visit. But, Roy just stared out at Breda and said nothing. She watched him swallow tightly then she reached for a water for herself.

“Tell me something, Captain,” he finally said as she sipped. She hummed.  
“Why is it that  _ you _ are the Maid of Honor, but  _ I _ am not the Best Man?”

She met his eyes curtly, “Perhaps you were not the best of the men, sir.”

He scoffed, “Preposterous.”  
She smirked softly, “Hardly, sir.”

Roy looked back to his man on the floor. He and Havoc were both now tearing up with a drunken laughter much more boisterous than any other guest could consider warranted.  _ Come on, _ his speech could  _ not _ be that funny.

“So,  _ Breda _ ,”

“Yes, sir.”

“I’m jealous, really,” he admitted. Riza raised her eyebrow as Roy turned on the charm.   
“For, as the best man, he’s gotten to work closely with the most beautiful woman in the room.”

“I can not get you promoted.”  
“You got Hayate promoted.”

“Hayate is worthy of his position. sir.”

The pup whined up at the General, appearing quite offended that he would dare treat him like a common dog rather than the honored member of the Havoc wedding party he was. Roy reached downward to pet him in apology, mildly defeated. Riza turned back to Breda.

Roy wasn’t sure what to say next.  
He wasn’t even sure what his plan was here,  
or  _ anywhere,  
_ _ at all _ in means of this subject. 

I mean, he wasn’t stupid, no. He was perceptive enough to know that his heart was planning its payback. He dealt with a similar feeling at Elric’s wedding years ago. Except now, he knew what he was dealing with. He knew precisely what he was holding captive in exchange for his goal. He knew the consequences, and now the symptoms of neglect were beginning to take hold.

Roy sighed.  
He wasn’t sure what to say next.

Riza felt his head swimming beside her and broke the silence with a note of normality.   
“If it’s any consolation, Sir. I would not even select you for my wedding party.”

It was a soft serve.  
She had set him up to find a sharp tongued response.

He found it with ease. Roy hummed in feigned thought  
and surveyed her carefully, “Not even as the groom, Captain?”  
  


She tensed.

  
He smiled slyly and shrugged cockily, hiding his candor,  
“I would give  _ anything _ to forever nag you like you nag me.”

“Your seat is over there, General.”

From any other perspective, it appeared he had crossed a line. From any other seat in the room, it was clear Riza Hawkeye truly did not appreciate whatever sort of mock-proposal he let spill out of his mouth.  Yet, from the seat next to the maid-of-honor, next to the bride, next to the groom, next to the best man, Roy watched Riza bite her lip to fight off the slightest of smiles.

From his seat, Roy could concede, he at least had the best view. 


End file.
